Prisoners have no right to hot meals, appeal court says

Evidence showed that food for all of Pelican Bay’s inmates is prepared in a single central kitchen, from which it is transported to “satellite kitchens” where final preparation is completed and the food is reheated to 165 degrees before serving. Inmates in the secured housing unit receive the same food as other prisoners, but are fed in their cells through a port in the door on thermally-insulated plastic trays.

The SHU has its own satellite kitchen, and food reheated there is transferred from the “hot line” to containers maintained at 140 degrees, and then stacked in trays on an open cart for transport to its 22 individual units. A correctional officer must measure and record temperature at each unit, with food typically ranging from 110-120 degrees when it arrives, and testimony at the hearing placed the latter as the ideal temperature for consumption of hot food.

Trays are then distributed to the 48 inmates in a unit, with officers frequently changing the order of service to ensure that particular inmates are not consistently the last to receive their food. Total elapsed time from hot line to SHU inmates’ cells is typically from 20-45 minutes, although it can reach an hour in unusual circumstances.

The prison makes no further attempt to control to temperature of food at the time it reaches SHU inmates, and maintains no regulations specifying the temperature at the time of delivery to individual cells.

The Circumstance:

The SHU is designed to house inmates who “pose a definite and serious threat to
the safety of others or themselves” or who are deemed “a threat to the security of the
institution for escape, major destruction of property, or activities leading to disorder.”
SHU inmates are segregated from the remainder of the prison population. Their activities
are subject to significant restrictions, and they are closely monitored. At the time of the
hearing, there were 1,100 inmates in the SHU, distributed among 22 separate units, with
48 inmates per unit.

The Food Service Practice:

Despite their isolation, SHU inmates receive the same food as other prison
inmates. As a security precaution, SHU inmates are fed in their cells through a port in
the cell door. The food is served to them on individual trays, known as “slammer trays,”
that are made of heavy plastic and thermally insulated. Slammer trays are designed to be
stacked, with the bottom of one tray serving as the top of the tray beneath it, thereby
insulating the lower tray.

Food for all the prison’s inmates is prepared in a single central kitchen, from
which it is transported to “satellite kitchens” for final preparation and distribution. After
central kitchen preparation, the food is chilled quickly and stored until it is sent to the
satellite kitchens, where it is reheated before serving. The reheating process is monitored
to ensure that the food is reheated to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, a treatment
intended to protect against bacterial growth.

The SHU has its own satellite kitchen. Following reheating in the SHU satellite
kitchen, the food is promptly transferred to large containers set in a line, maintained at a
minimum of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Slammer trays are passed down the line and filled
with food by non-SHU inmate workers. The filled trays are stacked on an open cart for
transport to a unit of the SHU. Each transport cart holds enough slammer trays to serve
all the inmates in one SHU unit.

Once the trays for a particular SHU unit are prepared and stacked on a transport
cart, correctional officers at the unit are called to pick up the cart from the kitchen.
Pushing a transport cart from the satellite kitchen to an individual SHU unit takes about
five minutes, but security and other delays can occasionally extend the time required for a
correctional officer to pick up the cart from the satellite kitchen and transport it to the unit
to 20 to 30 minutes. When the transport cart reaches the unit, a correctional officer must
measure and record the temperature of the food. Temperature logs show that hot food
typically ranges from 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit when it reaches the units, although
there are occasional readings outside this range. Testimony at the hearing placed
120 degrees Fahrenheit as the ideal temperature for consumption of hot food.

Once the temperature is recorded, the trays are distributed to the inmates, a
process that requires 10 to 20 minutes. The correctional officers frequently change the
order in which inmates are served to ensure that particular inmates are not consistently
the last to receive their food. The total time elapsed from the end of the hot line to the
SHU inmates’ cells is typically from 20 to 45 minutes, but it can reach an hour in unusual
circumstances.

www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A121142....